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Ep. 059 Steelers Win – Please Don’t Be A Mirage

Steelers 41 Falcons 17

This felt good even though we dominated a cellar-dwelling team. The last time we used “domination” to describe the Steelers, the regular season had not yet begun. Join us as we review how it all came together in this game and whether we can sustain this level of performance.

The Ben-AB “wifi” was wonky, but finally hit 4 bars on a class 49 yard shot from Ben to AB for Antonio’s second TD of the game. James Conner reprised his role from the Brown’s game, gaining 110 yards on the ground, scoring 2 rushing TDs and picking up another 75 yards via arial bombardment. With that receiving production, James now has as many runs over 20 yards (3) as Le’Veon had all last season!

Beyond the offense getting uncorked, the story here was the defense. This was an impressive performance by all measures. The line and OLBs appeared to surge into the Atlanta backfield all day, supported by the Silver Bullet, Mike Hilton, recording 6 sacks. TJ Watt sputtered to life, getting three of those sacks and disgorging the ball from Matt Ryan near the Falcon end zone, giving LJ Fort to fall on the ball and score a defensive touchdown. The Falcons were held to 62 yards rushing, while Ryan and Co. were able to produce 305 yards in the air, primarily through a myriad of passes thrown under 10 yards, leveraged by YAC.

Jorden Berry did a 180 degree turnaround averaging 489 yards per punt and landing one at the Falcon 2 yard line. Rosie Nix blocked a punt. Boz continues to worry us with another missed XP.

But this game left us with an uneasy feeling about the Steelers ability to replicate this against more formidable opponents. More to come….